Friday, February 15, 2008

I ended up choosing the SouthPark area for my Wednesday night adventure outside of the uptown area after hearing about hot spot restaurant M5 a few times over the past two weeks.

The restaurant -- part of the Harpers chain -- has been open since June and everything I've heard about it proved true. It is definitely not your typical Charlotte restaurant.

Instead, it feels like a place you would go to in New York or Miami (except with far fewer model/actress types).

My friend and I sat at the bar for a glass of wine and the prosciutto de parma flatbread, a perfect snack to split. It was a pretty crowded for 9 on a Wednesday night. Average age was about 40, but the age skews lower on Friday and Saturday nights. It's also a favorite of NASCAR drivers such as Jeff Gordon, Bobcats players (even MJ has stopped in) and Panthers players during the season.

Bartender Lou-Anne (a Harpers veteran of 16 years) was perfectly attentive and even managed to graciously fake a laugh or two at a couple of patrons who had long overstayed their welcome at the bar. And no, I'm not referring to me and my friend.

When the weather gets warmer, I'll be going back to check out the patio -- filled with tables and couches -- which I hear was packed this summer.

6
comments:

Anonymous
said...

I got a place for you and your freind to go ; Try BRIO bar the Italian looking place , it has a neat bar with live jazz singer and trio its neat and another favorite of mine DEL Friscos they have candle light downstairs and many couchs and lounge chairs; This was a great experience for me in Del Friscos ; The upstairs bar is really high class and the downstairs bar is what we all want our Basements to look like.

I agree, Charlotte hasn't reached "world class" status yet but it sure beats the Hartford, CT area where I lived for 4 horrendous years of my life....talk about nothing to do. Wow, it's good to be back home!!

To the idiot/moron who said that "charlotte is not even close to being a world class city"...none of the comments posted here have actually said that Charlotte IS a world class city, they said that Charlotte is "getting into" or moving towards being a world class city, which at its current pace it will be. Cities change and Charlotte happens to be one of the cities on a short list in the U.S. which is experiencing alot of positive change and growth. It is fun to watch and be a part of this wonderful city in this period of time. Some of the current world class cities you speak of may not be "world class" years from now. No educated person here would say or compare Charlotte to old world class cities like New York, Boston, or Chicago. It is simply progressing towards becoming "world class." But there is always people out there who has so much negativity in their lives that they try to spread it to others.

Sarah Aarthun is the Observer's pop culture writer. When she's not devouring Entertainment Weekly or writing about local and national celebrities for The 'A' List in the Observer, she can be found at hot spots around town.